Back at it.....??

One week home and we're just getting back into the swing. Everyone we run into is excited to hear about our adventure. In fact we heard from Jessica in North Carolina that she was "addicted" to this blog and checked throughout the day to see if we posted new info. Sorry Jessica we could only get one posting out a day. By the way....say "hi" to your friend Nancy for us.

As promised, here is some contact info and "Thanks!!" to those who made Our Twisted Travel such an adventure.

Giant "THANKS" to sister Deborah for getting the airline tickets arranged, Lauren for helping with the travel day envelopes (great job with the LSATs, we're proud of you) Leah for keeping things under control at home and certainly to Craig and Noella for the use of their high-def camera.

Here are links for more info about locations, businesses and friends connected with the trip.

Canmore, Alberta: Susan at www.rockymountainsoap.com
Ashley at www.thegrizzleypaw.com
General Business info: www.canmorebusiness.com

Drumheller and Rosedale, Alberta: World's largest dinasour, Outlaw's Saloon (Ashley & Ann)
www.drumhellerchamber.com

Torrington, Alberta: Gopher Hole Museum, search the internet for more info, good luck!

Thanks for video tips and support, Greg Aiello: Check his show "Motion" at www.livewellhd.com

Thanks for bartering items: Victor at Idea Print Work www.companycasuals.com/ipw
Dr. Norton at www.americasholisticdoctor.com
Anna & Deb at www.queensinn.com
Ken and the Cuccia Family at Vinces Spaghetti - Ontario, Calif.

More to come later regarding the posting of video clips. Stay tuned.........................

Back again !!!

Got in late last night. We left Canmore at 7:30am after a nice continental breakfast, included with the room. Wow, what a deal and what an amazing area !!! As we drove south to Calgary the vista of the Canadian Rockies in the rearview mirror was stunning. That view along with the friendly and helpful folks cemented the idea that we must return to the area someday in the future, next time with a more "comfortable" budget.

The flight back to the "real world" (read "work world") was uneventful and the 5 1/2 hr drive home was expected and exhausting. But what a treat to be home in Ahwahnee, to see the dogs and to be welcomed home by Leah. Thanks again Leah for keeping things together while we were away. It was so nice to come back to a clean, warm home with our own bath. Oh the simple pleasures in life.

We'll soon get posted websites and contact info from some of the places and new friends we visited. We also look forward to using some of the new techno tools (i.e. Facebook, YouTube, etc.) available to spread the word and share pictures from our twisted adventure.

Thanks for the encouraging comments and stay tuned for more from your Twisted Travelers....

Thanks Raine!

Hey, just got back from a fantastic hamburger here in Canmore & saw a comment from one of our favorite waitresses, Raine in Calgary. That made our day, very creative - thanks Raine!

We couldn't get to our email today but Lauren, hope your tests went well, thinking about you. Can't wait to hear more.

Leah, hope your holding down the fort & the doggies are being good for you.

Miss you all, it's great to have lots of new friends in Canada & can't wait to share our adventures with everyone.

A day to remember

After yesterday's blog entry, we decided to check out the local watering hole the Outlaw's Saloon. That's were we met Alicia (bartender), Ann (owner) and some of the locals, including Mr. Winnipeg (here working w/ his bro). We finally got to try the famous Canadian Ceasar & it was well worth it. Way to go Alicia! After a disappointing dinner (not mentioning names) and at Alicia's invite, we returned to the Outlaw's Saloon. Many thanks to Alicia for treating us to their own signature drink the Inkslinger named for her boyfriends tattoo joint next door and Mr. Winnipeg for buying us a round after he did well on the slots machine there. Thanks Ann for making the shirt trade - a nice momento of our time there. Be sure to visit them on facebook at Outlaws Saloon. We left you a shirt outside the door Alicia - hope you got it.

After leaving the Drumheller area this morning we travelled across Alberta towards Banff, the back way & saw some beautiful scenery while being pelted with rain. Came across a town named after us - Madden, Alberta, Canada. Arrived in Canmore outside Banff National Park around noon & enjoyed homemade pb&j while sipping lattes at the local coffee house. We set off exploring the town & met some great people - Susan at Rocky Mountain Soap Co. (rockymountainsoap.com) hooked us up with a care package - nat'l soaps & goodies - what a sweetheart! Then Ashley at Grizzly Paw Brewery treated us to a local micro brew & micro soda (no caffeine - yeah!). We hit Banff, a bit of a disappointment but very beautiful - more on that later. Now it's out for dinner. Running out of time, we'll tell you where we stayed tomorrow!

Miss you all!

Day 3 and still kicking

Last night we were not very complete in our posting as we only had a few minutes left on our internet time card. So here's a little more on Sheraton Steve. Not sure what his position was there but he was a great ambassador for the hotel. When we told him we were from California his response was "o.k. i'll talk slow." Besides the ginger beef and the Caesar folklore, he did offer to let us sleep on his "chesterfield, eh" (that's couch to y'all) and dinner if we needed it. We'll skip on the chesterfield, but you might be seeing us tomorrow night Steve, for that bbq dinner.

Today, we rented a car (yes, we worked it into our budget) & headed off to ... no not Banff as everyone told us to do, but Torrington, home of the Gopher Hole Museum, rated one of the top ten weirdest museums in North America (a well deserved recognition). Bev showed us the dioramas of stuffed REAL gophers (as in taxidermy folks) in little costumes. There were baseball players, bride & groom, even a preacher along with at least thirty others. It was the target of PETA protests years ago, but they've continue to "flourish" in spite of the controversy. At $2.00 a head for admission it was well worth the trip. We ran into a group of Red Hat Ladies who were also on an outing from Calgary enjoying the museum.

From there we headed east to Drumheller, home of the world's largest Dinosaur. After some "discussion" over budget, Beth at the visitors bureau hooked us up with a $23 a night hotel (cash only) in Nacmine. Here's a tip - you get what you paid for... We passed on that in favor of a $55 room, much cleaner, but still shared bath in Wayne at the Last Chance Saloon. We'll be discussing budget later.

Not sure what tomorrow brings, but certain to be more adventures.

Quick update to the days events. We didn't mention Ron & Nellie at one of the MS Walk's checkpoints. Nellie gave us some great pointers for future Twisted Travels including Indonesia & Ron was intrigued by the whole concept.

After a great big dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory (not nearly as good as Vince's but still enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow) we ran into Steve when we decided to venture into the Sheraton to see what we're missing. Steve let us in on some local history including Ginger Beef and the Ceasar (known as Bloody Marys in the states but made w/ Clamato) both Calgary inventions.

More tomorrow

We'll never be hungry again...

First off, yes Deborah, Banff or Lake Louise would destroy the budget beyond repair, not that we didn't think of it. We have something even better in mind but you'll have to stay tuned to find out.

Last night's dinner was at a pub in down town Calgary - nice area. The only thing we could afford on the menu was pizza (Canadian of course) which gave us enough left over for breakfast this morning. Tim was yearning for a 2nd Grasshopper Ale, but again not in the budget. He did a little creative negotiating - a Vince's Spaghetti t-shirt for a beer (thanks to Ken & the Cuccia family) - with our waitress Raine. She was stoked although her first response to our story was "you guys are freaking me out."

Today started with coffee & a shared muffin at McD's (their $1.42 special) then it was off to this "trendy" area of town. On the way, we stumbled upon a charity walk/run along the Bow/Elbow River. A boon to us as we got in line for some of their free water & goodies. We felt a little guilty but paid it back later. Arriving at the trendy Kennsington area, we found it wasn't our cup of tea. On the way back we stopped and listened to the band (the Matt Blais Connection - visit his facebook at The Matt Blais Connection or www.myspace.com/mattblais) they had at the end of the race & bought one of their CDs. All proceeds went to MS (the race charity) & thus our pay back. Continuing on our way back to the hostel we noticed a beautiful building that was the Chinese Cultural Center & enjoyed a musical play for a few minutes inside (Tim was the tallest person there).

One thing we've noticed through all this (besides our hunger) is that the places we plan to go to are never as interesting as the places we stumble upon. In other words, it's not the destination, but the journey that counts.

One last thought. We've both noticed our hording instinct has kicked in. If have food, we eat it even if we aren't hungry - who knows when we'll get our next meal. We've overcome that by investing in a box of graham crackers & a jar of chunky peanut butter - we'll never be hungry again...

Tomorrow starts a new adventure. Keep those comments coming.

Welcome to Calgary?

Lauren, ask your prof if he has a spare room?????

It's cold & wet here in Calgary & we're doing fine. It certainly makes for some great entertainment. Let's see, where to start. Everyone played along great everywhere we went. Starting w/ the shuttle bus driver, Maria, who got a smile on her face, to Gavril from Israel who was here to go to the horse races at Hollywood park & opened the airline envelope that told us which airline we were taking & Huma, the ticket counter agent who told us which gate but wouldn't let us know where were going. The flight attendant, Nadia, gave us some great pointers on where to go once we got the Calgary & also suggested the hostel where we're staying now, sharing bunkbeds w/ 4 other people in the room. The Hyatt down the street is looking mighty tempting. At Calgary airport, 79 year young Dorothy greeted us with a smile & sent us to the info booth (happy 79th b-day Dorothy!). That's where we met Marlene & Wayne (the security guy). Wayne suggested we sleep in the stairwell at night to save money (oops, sorry Wayne, we weren't supposed to repeat that - but notice no last names). Once in Calgary, we exchanged our money (not bad exchange rate at the bank - terrible at the airport) & did a little exploring. We ended up splitting a hot dog from a vendor on a street corner & sharing our time w/ a couple of Calgary's homeless. They were great guys & Tim traded hats with one of them. They wanted to go sit down for beers w/ us but we had an "appointment" at the library. Oh well, next time guys. Now it's off downtown again on the free shuttle train to find some cheap eats & a BEER (says Tim). Our budget is proving to be our biggest challenge. Thanks for all the comments everyone - keep them coming. Stay tuned for more...

Where's our jackets???

At LAX and just found out we're headed to Calgary!!!!! Good job Deb! Although we hear it's snowing there - first stop thrift shop. lot's more but we're running out of time. suffice to say, it's a great start to a great trip, everyone is very helpful & excited & playing along. more later

What's with this weather

We figured if we did this thing in June the weather would play along. Yeah right! We're both getting a little bit apprehensive about having everything we'll need in just two day packs. Sure we can buy extra clothing when we get to ??? but with a strict budget of just $500 for five days of meals, lodging and ground transportation, I'm not sure if I want to give up dinner for a sweater. I just hope it's not too cold. The weather throughout California, Canada, east of the Mississippi and in most of Europe sucks! It seems like the whole planet is covered with clouds and is expecting rain. But go figure.....the Middle East and the Korean penninsula are having great weather.

We hit the road in 4 hours for So. Cal. Dinner at a nice restaurant in Claremont with the family tonight and to LAX at 5am Sat.

Next posting will be from the gate at LAX and all the destination questions will be answered.....

3 more days...

Picked up our barter material from Queen's Inn today (http://www.queensinn.com/) Thanks again, Deb & Anna! Another day of getting fed!

We've been giving out the blog cards like crazy & it's creating quite a buzz around town. People ask us about the trip - "where you going? what are you packing? are you guys nuts? etc - on a regular basis & we are happy to share. Hal is keeping on us to blog more regularly, so you can blame him for our ramblings. We're looking forward to sharing our adventures on the road & sure we won't run out of things to amuse you with. We're looking forward to your responses and suggestions on how to survive this trip once we've arrived at our destination & encourage open dialogue. We expect some of you to know someone locally we can contact (six degrees of separation and all) when we get to ????? that might help us out. Respond via the comment box or email us at mistervacation@hotmail.com - we'll be checking both regularly.

4 Days and counting................

We are getting in some final preparations, as much as we can. Susan got a much needed chiropractic adjustment from Dr. Norton. After years of chronic neck pain he has been a life saver, maybe life enhancer is a better term. He has a terrific staff at his Fresno office, Emmy and Sheri always have a welcoming smile. If you every wanted to get rid of your aches and pains Dr. Norton book, "Where Does It Hurt?" is a great read. Here's his link on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=where+does+it+hurt+norton&x=19&y=22. The good Doctor has even donated an autographed and inscribed ("Please feed my friends and take good care of them") copy of his book for our bartering stash. Wonderful man, wonderful staff and amazing work. If you're hurtin', it is well worth the drive to Fresno to have Doc Norton work his magic. Check his website for more http://www.americasholisticdoctor.com/

Also made stops at the camera store, for an extra battery and a compact tri-pod, and at Target for travel size toiletries and a fold up canvas duffle bag. Since we're only packing two daypacks, we figure we may need to buy clothes at our destination (?) and the duffle bag will give us room to bring things back home.

More tomorrow..........................

5 days to go

We're hearing more people around our little town talking about our blog. It's starting to spread organically. We're working on the details now - extra batteries, day packs, chiropractic adjustments, you know, the necessities. Victor at Idea Print Work stepped up with some barter materials for us - Yosemite t-shirts, hats, etc. - looks like we eat another meal. Check out his website at www.companycasuals.com/ipw. We've been having a blast playing with the video camera, & we're starting to make some progress, refining our "technique." Leah reluctantly starred in our lastest recording, & we have promised not to share it without her permission. Tim continues his angst about the budget, although I've assured him we won't be sleeping on any park benches - barns, maybe.

Lots to do before we leave - that's it for now...

It's like a week away !!

So, Susan is off to Vegas with our daughter Leah for her 21st B-Day celebration. Other daughter, Lauren decided to stay home to study for her LSAT's, what a trooper she is. I'm holdin' the fort down and counting the last days before our twisted adventure. Talked with Greg A., our video adviser, last night and he's impressed at the progress we've made with our cinematic skills. He passed along more pointers and encouragement. Hopes are that we'll have a fun "home movie" from this trip. We've been passing out our "blog" business cards and finding that lots of people are interested in this silliness. Sometimes I think we're nuts but Susan continues to get more and more excited. I told her that I think I'd be more excited if I knew where we were going. Guess I'll find out soon enough. Well anyway.............enough for tonight, much more later as we keep getting close.

10 days & counting - This is for you Hal

Got our new "Our Twisted Travels" business cards - better to spread the word. Practiced using the video camera the other day, most of what we shot will never be seen by the public (minds out of the gutter people - like us singing "I Got You Babe") ... Our technical advisor, Greg, isn't yet aware, but we will be picking his brain for further filming tips. We'll be meeting him for dinner at the NEW eatery in town - Woody's New Orleans West (where 3 Sisters used to be). The menu looks great & we're looking forward to checking it out. Be sure to stop by for some of Woody's cookin' & be sure to tell him we sent you! We're still in need of bartering materials (lightweight & packable) so if you have a logo'd tee or hat or other small item you want to share, let us know.

21 days & counting/Queen's Inn

Glad to see our followers are growing in number - don't forget to leave us a comment or two!

Spent some time with our inaugural follower (Elisa) and friends at one of our favorite spots & the establishment of our first sponsor - the Queen's Inn (www.queensinn.com). Thanks Deb & Anna! What do we mean by sponsor, you ask? Well, with only $500 to survive on (that includes food, lodging & the works) for 5 days, we figured we could use some help. So ... we're accepting logo'd items to use as barter when we're hungry & thirsty ("trade a pizza & beer for a shirt, mister?"). Make sure to look for pics of these trading moments with sponsor logo prominently displayed. What we're getting at here is, if you want to spread your logo to the far corners of the world, here's your chance. You may be keeping us fed for another day in the process! Let us know - leave a comment, drop us an email, give us a call or send it by carrier pidgeon.

Only three more weeks ...

Happy Mother's Day!

Great dinner with Greg at Oka Friday nite. Tim was never sure of the $500 budget, but after seeing Greg's positive & enthusiastic reaction (very entertaining), he's on board with it. Greg gave us lots of useful pointers for using the video camera to capture our Twisted Travels. Check out his new show called "Motion" at www.livewellhd.com.

It's nice to see more of you following us & we welcome more comments.

To change the subject - Noella, here's the Madden's Diner Mac 'n Cheese recipe (courtesy of Jesse) - Bring to simmer 1/3 - 1/2 cup cream with 2 bay leaves & a bunch of peppercorns, then let cool. Cook 2 cups macaroni, re-heat the cream & add 1/4 lb Kraft Velvetta, 1/4 lb Pepperjack, 1/4 pound gorgonzola stirring til melted. Throw it all together with a little cooked pancetta & s & p to taste. Bake in oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Happy Mother's Day to Mom, sisters, friends and all you moms out there.

The Amazing Growing Blog

Okay.....so we already have two official followers (thanks Elisa and Hal), this thing is growing like a weed. We were too busy last night watching the Dodgers set records to practice our cinematography skills but on Friday nite at Oka's we'll be meeting with Greg (a professional movie dude) to get pointers and insider's info on how to document our twisted adventures.


Thirty days and counting 'til liftoff. More later.........

Just Got the Kodak (make that Panasonic)

Noella came through today and remembered the video camera. Craig was a little pissed having to download the content off the camera's hard drive at 2 a.m. and we owe him big time ... again. So now we're just playing with it filming me blogging just so we can get comfortable with the camera being on at any moment. So here's the genius of Twisted Travel. Let's start at the beginning. We were honeymooning in Boston when we came up with the plan. Simple really, take a trip without knowing where you're going. Our first thought was to go to the ticket counter and buy a ticket to wherever, but that proved to be too expensive. So, long story short, we enlisted the help of Tim's sister Deborah. We gave her a budget and asked her to buy us tickets (not telling us where) and meet us at LAX the day of the flight. We will have nothing more than a daypack each, passports, the video camera and $500 cash for the 5 day adventure. Now isn't that twisted?

Teaser :)

Just what is Twisted Travels? Stay tuned to find out...